Tapjoy Acquires 5Rocks To Create Best-in-Class “App-Tech” Platform

Today is a transformative day for Tapjoy. The acquisition of 5Rocks is more than just the addition of what we feel is the most sophisticated mobile app analytics and marketing automation company to our ranks. In fact, the combination of Tapjoy’s industry leading mobile advertising and monetization products and 5Rocks’ team and tech moves us closer to realizing our vision of being not just an ad-tech company, but an “app-tech” company.

5Rocks is well known for providing app developers with powerful analysis and marketing automation tools to gain a deep level of insight into a user’s behavior in order to maximize lifetime value. The platform was built by a remarkably talented team of gaming industry and data analytics experts from organizations such as Google, GREE, NC Soft and NHN. It’s no wonder that just a few months after they first launched their product, 5Rocks is the analytics solution of choice for many of the largest game developers in Korea and Japan.

We know from talking to our publishing partners that a comprehensive solution for mobile app analytics and monetization is something they’ve been looking for, and we’re thrilled to be bringing it to market. The 5Rocks tech offers an incredibly flexible user segmentation engine so app publishers can identify their high-value users and deliver custom messages and advertising offers based on their in-app behaviors. When used in conjunction with predictive analytics and marketing automation services – in-app messaging and push notifications, for example – these segmentation capabilities are extremely powerful revenue drivers.

The 5Rocks acquistion is also extremely valuable for our advertising partners. Earlier this year, our product team launched the nGen platform, a powerful events-based platform that surfaces “the right ad engagement to the right user at exactly the right moment.” That ability to surface a contextually relevant ad to a mobile app user is something you hear a lot about these days from a lot of players in the space. But the fact of the matter is, it requires an incredibly sophisticated tech stack and best-in-class data science. Tapjoy has invested heavily in this area, and combining nGen with 5Rocks means our platform will drive superior advertising performance and deliver contextually relevant rewarded ad experiences that consumers actually appreciate.

The entire 5Rocks team will be joining Tapjoy, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome them to the family. They are true domain experts and their talent and expertise will be crucial as we integrate the two platforms and deliver an unparalleled solution to the market. The integration will be complete later this year, but in the meantime, you can start benefiting from 5Rocks’ real-time analysis, actionable insights and marketing automation tools immediately. We’ll be sharing more information about how you can take advantage of 5Rocks’ technology very soon.

Until then, I want to welcome Changsu Lee and the 5Rocks team to the Tapjoy family.

–Steve

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PRESS RELEASE

TAPJOY ACQUIRES 5ROCKS, A LEADER IN ANALYTICS AND MARKETING AUTOMATION

Acquisition repositions Tapjoy as the ‘app-tech’ leader with a complete monetization and LTV maximization platform for mobile apps

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. and SEOUL, South Korea – August 6, 2014 – Tapjoy, a leading mobile ad-tech and monetization platform, today announced it has acquired 5Rocks, a Lifetime Value (LTV) maximization, analytics and marketing automation platform built by a world-class team of industry leaders in Korea. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition transforms Tapjoy into a complete ad-tech and app-tech solution for driving revenue and LTV maximization for app developers. By combining its industry-leading mobile advertising technology with 5Rocks’ predictive analytics and marketing automation services, Tapjoy now offers the best mobile analytics, marketing automation and ad-based monetization solutions that are purpose-built for mobile freemium app developers, all in one SDK.

Best known for its data science expertise, deep reporting, predictive analytics and mobile Customer Relationship Management (mCRM) platform, 5Rocks is the analytics solution of choice for many of the largest game developers in Korea and Japan. The 5Rocks platform uses robust data algorithms to offer detailed analytics and actionable insights into the real-time behaviors of mobile app users, enabling developers to seamlessly customize their in-app experience and manage segments of players differently according to real-time metrics. By combining this solution with its nGen ad monetization platform, Tapjoy will drive enhanced customer engagement, superior in-app purchase performance, and market leading ad-based monetization offerings for mobile app publishers.

“The acquisition of 5Rocks is a transformative moment for Tapjoy, as the combined platforms allow us to quickly integrate best-in-class publisher analytics and insights with the industry’s leading mobile ad platform to create what we call an ‘app-tech’ solution for mobile publishers,” said Steve Wadsworth, president and CEO of Tapjoy. “5Rocks’ services are complementary to what we have built at Tapjoy, and our combined platforms and team will have the technology, products and expertise to increase advertising effectiveness and help further define the future of app engagement and monetization services.”

Tapjoy’s SDK and rewarded ad model has been widely adopted by freemium app developers, with a monthly reach in excess of 450 million global monthly active users. Tapjoy’s app partners will soon benefit from not only industry leading ad-based revenue through its rewarded ad solution, but also from the most powerful mobile analytics and mCRM tools on the market. By integrating 5Rocks, Tapjoy will allow publishers using its nGen monetization platform to identify high-value, highly engaged or at-risk user groups and deliver appropriate messages and advertising offers that help drive maximum value from their users. For example, publishers will be able to create automated campaigns to serve specific advertising offers to custom user groups based on recent behaviors such as whether they’ve made an in-app purchase, the number of sessions they’ve completed in the last month, or any other custom criteria that a given publisher may deem an important qualifier for a given marketing message or ad placement.

The 5Rocks’ platform offers a comprehensive feature set, including: an incredibly strong User Segmentation engine that can define segments by users’ purchase history, geographical region, device type and other criteria; flexible Cohort Analysis enabling publishers to group users by in-app behavior, purchase patterns, social activity, referral channel and more; A/B Testing tools to test the effectiveness of marketing campaigns; an automatic alert system to notify developers when it detects anomalies in their data such as a sudden loss of active users or a big jump in revenue; and more.

“Our mission at 5Rocks has always been to enable the world’s leading mobile game developers to maximize the life-time value of their users. As we looked at expanding our technology we needed a leading global platform and top sales team, and it was obvious that Tapjoy was the perfect partner,” said Changsu Lee, CEO and founder of 5Rocks. “Having an innovative and award-winning Silicon Valley company acquire a Korean start-up validates our hard work and technological leadership in Korea. We’re very excited to join the Tapjoy family, and we look forward to continuing to improve the ways app developers across the globe identify and monetize their high-value users.”

Mr. Lee and the entire 5Rocks team are joining the Tapjoy organization effective immediately. Mr. Lee will assume the role of vice president of publisher analytics and insights.

“With 5Rocks, Tapjoy adds a renowned analytics and insights offering, a sophisticated technology solution, and world-class development talent,” added Wadsworth. “5Rocks’ founders have built a tremendous team, and we are excited to welcome them to Tapjoy. Every member of the 5Rocks team has deep, relevant industry experience, and they have been solely focused on creating a superior mobile game analytics platform for several years. This is a big win for our publishing partners, who will now have industry leading analytics and monetization technology and capabilities all through a single SDK integration.”

The 5Rocks solution will be fully integrated into Tapjoy’s nGen Platform in Q4 2014.

About Tapjoy

As the mobile industry’s leading app-tech company, Tapjoy’s mission is to maximize value for app developers through ad-based monetization and industry leading analytic solutions. Tapjoy drives revenue for mobile app developers through advertising and uses data from their apps to serve the right engagement to the right user at the right moment. Tapjoy’s global reach is currently more than 450MM monthly active users. Tapjoy is backed by top-tier investors, including J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Rho Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners, InterWest Partners and D.E. Shaw Ventures. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company also has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Santa Barbara, Atlanta, Boston, London, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.tapjoy.com.